Spring is here, the blossom’s out and it’s Budget Day - with a bit of hope that we might see the sap rising in the housing market soon. For the third month in a row there have been a few glimmers of positive news.
Apparently there’s been a slight decrease in the number of estate agents reporting falling rather than rising prices. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors reports that sales have stopped falling, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ figures indicate that new lending has picked up a bit, although it’s still only a third of what it was in the good old days between 2002 and 2007.
Baby steps perhaps, but perhaps Chancellor Darling’s measures will help a bit more. There’s £600 million earmarked to be spent on reviving new homes building programmes that have ground to a halt, and an extension of the ‘stamp duty holiday’ for properties up to £175,000 until the end of the year. There’s also help for buyers with a new scheme, Home Buyer Direct, which will bump up deposits with an interest free loan when mortgage lenders want to see a larger downpayment. This, it is hoped, will help about 3000 more people to get mortgages.
Admittedly the Budget is pretty grim but if you’re involved in the new homes or affordable homes sector, you might be permitting yourself just a little twitch of a smile. Maybe it’s time to start thinking afresh about how you can benefit from these initiatives. At Bradley Dyer we’d certainly like to help you, and we’ve got some fresh ideas of our own that could enable you to attract some of these new customers.